How to frighten away prospective writers

Fellow authors will recognize the following: Upon first meeting someone who discovers we’re writers, the conversations are quite predictable. First comes flattery: I’ve never met a writer before, or, It must be so exciting, and my favorite, You must be making so much money!

Many conversations end at this point, with people regarding us with admiration while we bite our lower lips, studiously avoiding correcting their exaggerations of any literary or other successes.

But some conversations turn serious, with questions on how to become a writer, an author’s lifestyle, or the craft itself.  These require actual honest answers, but a struggle ensues on how to gently deflate the wild expectations of bright-eyed individuals eager to set off on a journey of artistic expression and personal self-fulfillment.

For these people, I have compiled a list of quotes from well-known authors, which I submit for all to use:

Harper Lee

On how to become a writer:

 “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.”

—Harper Lee, WD

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
—Ernest Hemingway

Ray Bradbury

Upon the Author’s lifestyle:

“When I say work I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”
—Margaret Laurence

“...I have this one nasty habit. Makes me hard to live with. I write...” – Robert Heinlen

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
― Ray Bradbury

William Carlos Williams

On the craft of writing:

“I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it.”
—William Carlos Williams

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

—George Orwell

“I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, then stop.” 
― Clarence Budington Kelland

Finally, if the individual has not run away screaming, we know he or she is ready to take the plunge. Now is the time to give the best piece of advice yet: “Start writing!”

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "Karma Nation," published by Books We Love.

www.mohanashtakala.com

www.bookswelove.net